Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Wild onions grow in people's yard here..‏

Yay happy Easter!!! I got your package and it was perfect and
just what I needed! I felt like I got the "grown up" Easter basket
because it just came in all the packages and stuff. It was perfect.
Thank you so much. Also mommy I am glad to hear you had a good
birthday! That makes me happy. I hope you get my card soon if you
haven't already :) Well I do have to say I am actually quite
heartbroken that I will be missing one shining moment tonight :( think
of me when you see all the basketball players pounding their chests
and everything, you know that's my favorite! Haha
Well wow this week was awesome!!! Seriously. But also very wet. It
stormed the majority of this week. Like crazy stormed. I thought we
were under attack one morning. Seriously it was that crazy! Haha yall
know how much I love thunder and lightening storms... I was told that
in the summer it's like sooo crazy and the lightening is like a strobe
light... We'll see how that goes.. But one of the best parts about
getting so much rain is that everything is SO green here. It so
beautiful I just love it!
I did one different thing this week. On Wednesday Hermana Rudolph and
I were walking back to our apartment and we met these two older
ladies. They were so cute and funny. We shared with them the He Lives
video and they both really liked it. One of them, Sweet Mary, the
cutest German lady ever, invited us to a good Friday service at her
church on Friday. We agreed, so on Friday we went to a Lutheran church
for a good Friday service. It was really interesting. It's amazing how
other churches can have so much truth in their teachings but then at
the same time not have any truth at all... It was a candle light
service and so it was like dark during the service and continued
getting darker the whole service. needless to say I was like freaked
out most of the time. Especially with all the creepy organ songs that
they kept playing. It was good to experience though! It makes me sad
to think about how so much of the Christian world focuses on Christ
suffering on the cross. I am so truly grateful that Christ suffered
for my sins, pains, and sorrows in the garden of Gethsemane and on the
cross but I think sometimes we overlook the greatest miracle of all.
Christ is risen! Today he lives!! He broke the bands of death that we
all may live again. He suffered our sins that we all may repent when
we fall short and sin. I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ
and like Elder Holland mentioned in his talk, that his arms are
reached out to help us and hold us up. I am grateful I have had this
chance to be a missionary during this beatify Easter holiday.
Not only was it Easter week it was a week full of miracles here in
Clarksville as well. Yahoo :) this week I have gained a strong
testimony of goal setting and setting goals with the spirit. Hermana
Rudolph and I met every single goal we set for the week this week!! It
was awesome. On Saturday we were looking and we still needed to get
two more member present lessons to complete our goal for this week...
We prayed and really thought hard about who we could go and see (we
have been really struggling having people to teach) and as we were
planning a member texted us and asked if we could meet with her and
her neighbor (who isn't a member) sometime this next week. We
hopefully asked her if we could do it tomorrow (Sunday) and she said
yes! We were so happy but still needed to set up one more lesson with
another member to reach our goal. We prayed a ton. I just really felt
like it was all going to work out. So we finished our planning and
prayed that something would work out. Well yesterday after the first
session of conference we had planned to go tracting on a street with
the hopes that our member who lives on that street would come with us,
but we got stranded at the church and had no way to make it to the
street and back before the second session started. So we just decided
do some finding at some apartments near the church. And guess what? No
one talked to us. We got turned down the whole time. Such a let down.
We made our way back to the church and went in and watched the second
session of the conference. Well with about 2 speakers left of the
conference, a ysa came and told us that there is a lady who wants a
Book of Mormon is Spanish. And she was sitting out in the hall way. So
we go out there and we start talking to her. Her friend was still
watching the conference and they are both nonmembers! And they just
wanted to come see the church sometime. We ended up teaching her with
the ysa too! It was seriously a miracle!! So long story short we
reached our goal of member present and now two new SPANISH
investigators. Miracles on the Day of the greatest Miracle ever. It
was so awesome. :)
Talking about General Conference. It was awesome! It was weird to
think that in October I watched it in the CCM. And now I am just here
in clarksville Tennessee haha but it was great. On Saturday morning we
got invited to a members house for breakfast and to watch the first
session. The Castillo family. They are great. They made us this huge
Easter basket. It was so nice of them :) they have some young kids and
it was really different to watch conference not in like sweatpants and
with 4 kids under the age of 10 running around. Haha but it was great!
For the rest of the conferences we just watched them at the church. It
was really nice :)
I watched some in Spanish and some in English. It was a good time. I
can't really think of my absolute favorite talk because they were all
so great. I know that all those who speak in general conference are
truly so inspired. And like dad had mentioned, I know that any
questions we have they will be answered in general conference. I am so
grateful! I really loved all the Saturday session. It was so much
about the family. It makes me so happy to have a great family! I was
although getting a little stressed out thinking, how can I make sure I
am a good mother and teach my children the gospel of Jesus Christ? I
was a little overwhelmed and jotted down a few impressions that came
to me and then remembered I was a missionary and then I got a little
less stressed out
I loved Sister Wixom's talk about focusing on what you know. I felt
like that is applicable to everyone members and nonmembers. It made me
excited to share it with my investigators and recent converts. I also
really enjoyed Elder Brent H. Nielson's talk about how to respond to
those who have lost their way. As a missionary it's so hard watching
people who once were progressing, stop progressing. But I realized
that as I listened to this talk that love can change even the stoniest
of hearts. As we love, watch, and wait. Wow I could go on forever
about all the talks I loved but that would make this email just way to
long. But I, like a lot of other people, loved the talk by Elder W
Pearson. His was great. Overall general conference was amazing.
Well after quite a long email I will close just saying how much I love
my family and friends. How grateful I am to have the love and support
from yall. I love being a missionary so much! I am grateful that I
have all my siblings to look up to while being out here on my mission.
I hope yall have a great week! Especially mom, dad, and e as you go to
Arizona. Enjoy a nice coke by the pool for me please :) I love yall!
Xoxo
Lizzy :)